Suite Deal

by Alice Devine

  Speaking the Language

  Architects speak a strange geometric language of lines, dots, triangles, and circles. In order to become fluent, you need to translate these symbols into windows, walls, and doors. Most space plans and construction documents contain a legend, a guide to the symbol shorthand, typically printed in the lower corner of a plan. For example, a wall that is to be demolished will be indicated with dashed lines, while a newly constructed wall (or partition, as it’s called) will be shown with a solid line. As you learn to decipher the various symbols—probably twenty or so of the most common—plans will become much easier and quicker to read.

  Further, plans are scaled so that a particular measurement (often one-quarter inch) equates to one linear foot. Again, refer to the plan’s legend to understand its orientation and scale. While space plans are abbreviated, single-page drawings of an office, they will eventually be translated into detailed, multipage construction documents.

  I use my understanding of architectural symbols to communicate in code. For instance, when I ask my architect if a sidelight might work as well as glass block in an office, I’m telling him to suggest a less costly alternative without expressly saying such in front of the tenant. Of course, using this language assumes you know your unit prices so that you realize glass block costs significantly more than a side-lit piece of glass. Learning the symbols and their costs allows me proficiency in design.

  Do You Speak Architectese?

  NIC: not included in contract

  Plan view: a bird’s-eye view, the perspective from looking down at a space

  Elevation view: a frontal view, as if you are standing on the ground looking at the space in front of you

  CDs: construction documents

  Duplex: an electrical outlet with two receptacles

  Fourplex: an electrical outlet with four receptacles

  Partition: a wall, usually stopping at the ceiling level

  Slab to slab: a (fire-rated) wall, built from the floor to the underside of the next floor

  CAD: computer-aided design (three-dimensional drawings)

  Scale: the proportional size of the drawing to the actual space (usually one-quarter or one-eighth inch equals one foot)

  Computer-Aided Design

  Technology allows easy display of existing floor plans and suite improvements; however, many architects use a hybrid approach to the space planning stage. While architects access electronic layouts, they may also use traditional pencil and tracing paper in this brainstorming process. Then, after a satisfactory space plan is reached, the architect will convert the approved layouts to an electronic form. On the other hand, some architects work exclusively with computer-aided design. It depends on the market, the extent of planning needed, and, to some degree, the architect’s preference. Increasingly, virtual reality is used to illustrate a space, a boon for clients who lack three-dimensional visualization skills. While architects, contractors, and landlords are adopting this technology, it has yet to completely infiltrate the market. In the meantime, keep your tracing paper and printed floor plan.

  On the tenant side, more sophisticated (usually large) tenants administer space via electronic tools. For instance, software allows firms to manage every seat in the office. Click on any color-coded department and you’ll see the lease terms associated with the group, along with details like telephone privileges, internet/intranet access, furniture standards, and so on. The client can circle a department and then “drop it” onto another floor, in a hypothetical move scenario. The program will show the facility manager a new configuration and create a detailed move to-do list. From a space planning perspective, count your lucky stars if you have tenants this savvy, because they have a firm handle on their real estate wants, needs, and wallet.

  Lead Time

  The time required for producing space plans varies based on square footage and design complexity. In general, for small suites (1,500 square feet or under), the tenant should be able to leave the meeting with a preliminary space plan in hand. For larger suites, aim for a turnaround of two to five days.

  Know Design Trends: Hotel, Motel, Holiday Inn?

  Staying abreast of office design trends allows you to give your building relevance in the marketplace as you compete for prospective tenants. As fickle as fashion, tenant improvements oscillate between modernist, with its exposed ducts, and traditional, where the corner office reigns supreme. Existing building architecture, too, can influence design. But more frequently, it’s company culture and cost that drive the office layouts du jour.

  Let’s Get Physical

  Functional physical spaces are critical to business endeavors. Although technology surrounds us, it has not eliminated the need for physical space. Virtual reality? Yes. Virtual everything? Well, not quite. Ironically, technology companies seem to value physical workspaces even more than the average bear. For example, consider the organic restaurants, concierge services, and sand volleyball courts that dot Silicon Valley’s corporate campuses. In addition to reducing the need to leave work for personal errands, the interaction driven by physical proximity lies at the heart of many companies’ creativity and, thus, culture and success.

  Whiteboards All Around

  From offices where employees name the conference rooms, indulging their travel fantasies—Kilimanjaro, Sedona, Bangkok—to offices with interior columns wrapped in whiteboard material, today’s companies seek employee input on office space.

  Collaboration and Collision

  Open plans tout collaboration and a lack of hierarchy, where the company CEO works alongside other employees. Ring the office with exposed brick and toss in room for a Ping-Pong table or a slide that connects floors and there you have it: possibly more playground than office, a space that infuses fun into the long hours at work. Alright, while a slide is an extreme example, these tenant improvements underscore the value companies place on making the office experience enjoyable and connecting employees.

  In a recent trend, firms are forging new design by creating spaces for workers to encounter others, independent of their role within the firm. The notion behind the design is that true innovation results from “chance encounters and unplanned interactions between knowledge workers, both inside and outside the organization,”2 according to the sociometric data gathered in a study published by the Harvard Business Review. In a similar show of promoting chance meetings, Google has placed coffee and food bars throughout its offices, with employees rarely more than 200 feet from artisan treats. Food, like art or dogs, is a social object, meaning it encourages human interaction. Yesterday’s water cooler has become today’s espresso bar, but it serves the same purpose: to connect people. How does this translate to tenant improvements? It means more open spaces and corridors for people to meet, central seating areas, food, drinks, a view, outdoor meeting areas, artwork, and so on. Many companies value creativity and collaboration, and they seek to work in spaces that mirror and encourage these attributes through proximity.

  Yesterday’s water cooler has become today’s espresso bar, but it serves the same purpose: to connect people.

  At the other end of the office design spectrum lie private offices, with regulated sizes marching alongside each other up to the corner office, a literal ladder of corporate hierarchy. Businesses such as family law firms and wealth managers require closed doors for confidentiality, making private offices a must. In addition, Gloria Mark, a professor at the University of California, Irvine, makes a further case for privacy. Although Professor Mark’s research shows that employee interruptions led to faster work (as the employees compensated for lost time), “people in the interrupted conditions experienced a higher workload, more stress, higher frustration, more time pressure, and effort.”3 While Mark delves into the distinctions between good interruptions and unproductive interruptions, the bottom line is that some workers require spaces free from the hurly-burly of disruption
.

  While companies decide how office form will follow function, even traditional companies are modifying their wood-paneled, corner-office configurations. In a survey of major US law firms, the Wall Street Journal reported that firms were “shrinking private offices, swapping out walls for glass, and installing high-tech meeting rooms in dead space once occupied by law libraries and filing cabinets.”4 In an effort to lower costs and boost productivity, offices now feature areas for attorneys to collaborate, along with smaller private office spaces.

  Charles Darwin had nothing on the real estate industry: change or die. Recently, the managing partner of a national brokerage company illustrated a changed way of working that impacts office space. The partner told me he’d paid two undergrad students for a week during winter break, giving each his own cubicle, landline, and computer. Then, he tasked them with scrubbing a huge contact list of companies. Within hours, the two hulking young men were huddled in one cubicle. Using their cell phones, a laptop, and websites “you’ve never heard of,” they secured contact names, contact information, addresses, and personal information. The partner referenced the notion of benching, in which employees pull up chairs to a long table. Impressed by the interns’ results, the managing partner said his next hires were going to be hungry young employees who knew the true meaning of collaboration . . . not to mention they wouldn’t need a lot of office space.5

  Economics of Design

  Other factors, such as the state of the market, also influence design. During economic downturns, space planning tends toward more generic spaces to allow for company flexibility. It’s somewhat of an art, because even small changes in size can dramatically influence a space’s practicality. For example, standard offices may measure ten by twelve feet while a larger thirteen-by-fifteen-foot office allows for additional conferencing. Build a twelve-by-fifteen-foot office, though, and you have neither fish nor fowl; it has more space than needed for a desk, credenza, and side chair but does not accommodate typical conference room furniture. When salvaging traditional spaces, architects often retain the existing perimeter offices even when creating open interior spaces because it minimizes construction costs and allows for some privacy. Construction in the corners is particularly costly because of separately zoned HVAC and lighting, and added demolition expenses.

  Hoteling

  Companies plan for the nomadic employee (and maximize square footage) by providing a desk, plug-and-play capability, modular furniture, and lockers for personal belongings.

  Green Space

  Excellent space planning demands a green consciousness in today’s real estate industry. Oftentimes, the most expedient way to green a space is to reuse existing tenant improvements that have value. Consider the labor and materials involving in making an office several feet larger—simply moving a wall involves demolition, lighting, fire suppression, ceiling tile, HVAC, drywall, insulation, electrical, carpet, baseboard, and paint subcontractors. Whew. Unless there is true value gained by moving walls, it is much greener to work within existing parameters. Recycled elements can still be burnished so they have contemporary appeal. For instance, brick walls can be treated so that their weathered components lend an industrial, contemporary vibe to offices.

  Ways to Green a Space

  Minimize window-line offices to allow in more natural light.

  Use atriums and skylights.

  Place windows strategically for day lighting and lower cooling costs (sometimes even a code requirement).

  Use carpet made from recycled materials and solvent alternatives.

  Install recycled-denim wall insulation.

  Minimize code compliance expenses with an analysis of existing configurations.

  Use the finish display board (and brochures and websites) to communicate your sustainable commitment by identifying nontoxic or environmentally friendly paint or natural fibers.

  Deliver the Space Plan

  After a productive planning meeting, the next step is to present the space plan to the tenant. Tenants often complete preliminary space plans with one or two competing buildings prior to making a final lease decision, so delivering a quality space plan—especially if the planning process went smoothly—can entice a tenant to a building, quantify construction costs, and cement a lease deal.

  Improving Readability

  Most importantly, present the plan in an easily readable format. The plan should display only relevant details that help the tenant envision the space, such as labeled rooms (e.g., office, kitchen, etc.) and a furniture layout. Refrain from overloading your prospect with too much clutter; after all, the tenant is making a business decision, not earning an engineering degree. Note: the plan going to the contractor might contain more technical, detailed information for estimating purposes, but there’s little need for tenants to receive this copy, which might overwhelm them.

  Additionally, some landlords create a less politically charged experience by providing the tenant with two drawings. The first identifies the various offices with specific employee names while the second plan indicates office space only. Office moves can spawn a host of political issues that managers massage with various office layouts. With a clean plan devoid of individual names, the tenant can plot employee locations and circulate the plan without generating a rash of premature discussions regarding office assignments. Ask your tenants if they would prefer these two types of drawings—they may appreciate your consideration.

  Last, indicate the rentable square footage but omit the usable square footage. Listing both numbers prompts tenants to focus on the amount of space for which they pay rent but do not use. The delta between usable and rentable square footage is known as the common area load factor and varies from building to building depending on its common spaces: lobby, corridors, and so on. The load factor is better left as a business discussion rather than a space plan point.

  Keep the momentum of a tenant’s excitement with a new office space by delivering a space plan quickly, in person if possible. While it’s expedient to email the plan, it’s easy to lose an email attachment. Further, your face-to-face review speaks to your level of service, a hallmark of superb landlords. Remember, at this stage, it’s all about building rapport, rapport, rapport. The personal delivery also ensures the plan’s safe arrival, making it less likely that a tenant shopping the market will simply forward an electronic copy of the space plan to competing buildings. (A titled building name, address, and a “read only” designation also dissuade users from copying plans.) Remember, it’s courting time. Woo them with a personalized note, letting the tenants know you look forward to welcoming them to the building.

  After our space planning meeting, I realized my prospective tenant had a tough time visualizing the discussed space. Planning works especially well for those who have great spatial skills, or just a good imagination. While some architects use CAD drawings or can create a three-dimensional plan, these aren’t always cost-effective or available options. In order to feel comfortable, the prospective tenant needed to see the space in his mind’s eye. So I asked the architect to add some extras to customize the office. She sketched a large leafy plant in the corner of the reception room, drew a sofa, guest chairs and furniture, indicated glass with arrows, and finally, labeled the door with the company name along with the principals’ first names indicated on each private office. She even added some colored pencil: green, gray, and blue. Bingo, an easy-to-read plan personalized for the tenant. A picture truly can be worth a thousand words.

  Reviewing in Person

  Arrange a brief in-person meeting with the tenant at the same time that you deliver the space plan.

  To kick off the review, identify the path of travel as if you are walking through the space (assuming you are working from a two-dimensional plan. If it’s a three-dimensional CAD drawing, you’ll play tour guide, albeit less actively). Note the architect’s scale of the drawing to actual linear foot, and then
point out the electrical outlet locations, conference areas, kitchen, storage spaces, offices, and so on. This type of review allows the tenant to give immediate feedback. Should the tenant have any minor changes or discover errors, you can relay these to the architect for prompt revision.

  Revising the Space Plan

  Most landlords plan on minor revisions to the space plan as a result of the review. Typically, you can communicate such changes to the architect, who then prepares another version of the space plan for the tenant’s approval. Occasionally, tenants will want major revisions—perhaps prompted by a changed company strategy or an executive’s direction—and in that case, leasing professionals usually assess the extent of the changes, the expense to modify the plans, and the likelihood of this particular tenant signing a lease. It’s all fair game for more consideration and, possibly, negotiation.

  Obtain Construction Cost Estimates

  Once approved by the tenant, the space plan goes to the building contractor for pricing. Again, turnaround time is critical, and you should receive a written, detailed line-by-line estimate in two to five days. Moreover, if you have done your space planning well, you should have had a ballpark idea of costs prior to receiving the contractor’s estimate. Should there be a significant differential between your expectations and the contractor’s estimate, revisit each expense item line by line with the contractor to truly understand the estimated expenses. Remember that general contractor fees and unforeseen field conditions will absorb some dollars, so leave some budget contingency, with 3–5 percent being an appropriate margin. That way, field issues that will inevitably arise during construction won’t send you screaming to the bank.